


Crimson Moon

by Raziel12



Category: Final Fantasy XIII
Genre: F/F, Fantasy, Horror, Vampires, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-03
Updated: 2014-08-27
Packaged: 2018-02-07 05:48:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1887246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raziel12/pseuds/Raziel12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For centuries, the Pact has kept peace between vampires and werewolves. But times have changed, and the Pact is about to be broken. The Yun are calling the werewolf clans to war, and the only way to stop them is to find them a new leader. It's a pity then that Oerba Yun Fang wants nothing to do with her fellow werewolves or the vampire who has come looking for her help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Crimson moon

**Crimson Moon**

The moon rose over the village, bright and full and silver. The smell of blood lingered in the air, mingling with the sweet scent of wildflowers. A familiar hunger stirred in Lightning’s gut, and her eyes narrowed into slits. She could sate her thirst later. This village – and its villagers – belonged to her, and no one was allowed to harm her property without punishment.

For centuries, she had ruled over these lands. She kept her people safe from all the monsters that waited in the shadows and all the human enemies that came from over the mountains. In exchange, they owed her everything: their lives, their loyalty, and their blood. 

So when werewolves had the audacity to lay a hand on her villagers, she could not allow them to leave with their lives. She had already ordered some of her soldiers and fledglings to surround the village, but she wanted the pleasure of the kill herself. There was a certain satisfaction to be had in dispatching her enemies personally.

Lightning walked into the village square. Four large shapes peeled away from the shadows. The werewolves were each at least seven feet tall. They moved with the deadly grace of born predators, and they took a moment to take her measure before they attacked. How foolish. They truly thought they were the hunters. No, they were the hunted. Her hand drifted toward her sword and then stilled. She would do this with her bare hands. 

She ducked under the claws of the first werewolf and locked one hand around its wrist. A normal werewolf was stronger than a normal vampire, but Lightning had lived for centuries and acquired the kind of the power that most werewolves could only dream about. She tore the werewolf’s arm off at the elbow and then shoved her other hand through its chest. Blood sprayed onto her face, and Lightning savoured the taste of it, so different from human blood. She ripped the werewolf’s heart out and then smashed its skull. Even with its regenerative powers, the werewolf was dead.

The second and third werewolf reached her together. One lunged at her legs, and the other leapt, hoping to catch her if she jumped. She did jump, twisting in mid-air to put herself almost parallel to the ground. As the werewolf shot through the air above her, she drove one booted heal into its face. The werewolf’s skull shattered, and the blow flung the beast into the ground with enough force to crack the dry earth.

The werewolf that had gone for her legs snarled and came around for another attack. She lunged forward and launched herself at its throat. One hand shoved the werewolf’s head up and back, and then her teeth were buried in its throat. A savage twist of her head shredded the werewolf’s throat and she drank deeply, revelling in the savage thrill of the kill and the heady taste of its blood. The werewolf toppled back, and she stomped down on its head. 

Wiping some of the blood off her chin, Lightning licked her fingers clean and turned to watch the last werewolf. All of its bravado was gone. Instead it lowered its head and whined pathetically. It was a gesture of submission, but Lightning was in no mood to accept it. She could hear the blood pumping in the werewolf’s veins, and there was a part of her that wanted nothing more than to splatter it all over the ground.

Lightning threw her arms open and the air around her shimmered. A bloody red mist stained the air, and her body dissolved and gave way to something distinctly inhuman, something that was all teeth, claws, eyes, and gleaming crystal. Vampires might wear human shapes, but they were so much more.

By the time she was done, the last werewolf was little more than pulp. She took her usual shape again and picked a small fragment of bone out of her hair. It was then that Serah arrived, the younger vampire appearing amidst a cloud of shadows. Such extravagance.

“What are you doing here?” 

“I came to see what all the fuss was about.” Serah leaned forward, one dainty hand moving to cup the back of Lightning’s head as her tongue darted out to lick some of the blood from the corner of Lightning’s mouth. She eased away, chuckling softly at the faint blush on her sister’s cheeks. Her mirth faded as minute traces of magic in the blood tingled on the tip of her tongue. “These weren’t rogues. They belonged to one of the great clans – to the Yun.”

“Yes.” Lightning picked up one of the corpses. In death, the werewolves had reverted to their human forms. “And that means trouble is coming. The Pact makes allowances for the occasional rogue werewolf. But the clans are another matter. This… transgression may only be the beginning.” She dropped the corpse. It hit the ground with a wet thump. “Send word to the other covens and then seek out Vanille.”

“You could always go see her yourself.” Serah stepped around a large pool of blood. Her sister could be so messy sometimes, and she had just gotten new boots. 

“And deprive you of an excuse to see her?” Lightning’s lips curled. “We both know you’d hold that against me. Enjoy yourself but do not get caught.”

Serah grinned and faded into the shadows. “I never am.”

X X X

Vanille was not the imposing person. She wasn’t particularly big, nor was she particularly strong or fast. Her sister had once remarked that even as a werewolf, she was pretty unimposing. But what Vanille lacked in physical power, she more than made up for in cunning and magic. Few werewolves were talented in magic, and even fewer devoted as much time and effort to it as Vanille.

As one of the chief scholars and mages of the Dia clan, Vanille had centuries of experience under her belt and access to her clan’s legendary archives. She spent much of her time there, content to bury herself in ancient scrolls and dusty books. Amongst the werewolf clans, the Dia were considered the most level-headed, and she knew that many of her clansmen were nervous about the Yun’s growing belligerence.

The last major war between the werewolves and vampires had left thousands of their kind dead and exposed both factions to counter-attacks from their enemies. Both sides had agreed to a ceasefire, known as the Pact, so that they could deal with their other enemies and secure their territory. That had happened centuries ago, and there were whispers of a push from the Yun to abandon the Pact now that the clans had solidified their position.

On her way back to her chambers with an armful of books and scrolls, she paused, ears twitching as she caught the sound of a window creaking open. The torches along the corridor flickered, moved by an unseen wind.

She turned and shifted her books and scrolls into one hand as she raised the other. “Stop where you are!” 

Flames rushed from the torches toward the shadow by the open window. The shadow split into a fine mist that filled the corridor. Vanille shivered as a deathly chill swept over her. A strong arm wrapped around her waist from behind as a slim, delicate hand tilted her chin up and back. Teeth scraped along her throat.

“Serah.” Vanille sighed. “You really shouldn’t be sneaking around here. If you get caught, my clan would be well within its rights to have you executed.”

The vampire chuckled and nuzzled Vanille’s throat. “That’s a big if. Besides, I’m not here to cause trouble. I’m here on a… diplomatic errand.”

“Really?” Vanille pulled away before Serah could tighten her hold any further. “And what kind of diplomatic errand has you sneaking through the window instead of organising a meeting on neutral ground?”

The barely concealed hunger in Serah’s eyes made Vanille take a step back. Werewolf or not, she wasn’t certain of her ability to take Serah in a fight, even on a full moon. There were very, very few vampires as skilled or powerful as Serah’s sister, and Lightning had taught Serah well. 

“Four Yun werewolves attacked one of our villages tonight. They killed quite a few of the villagers. Of course, my dear sister dealt with them, but it is troubling, don’t you think?”

Vanille scowled. “I feared something like this might happen.” She tugged Serah along the corridor. “Come on, if we’re going to talk, we need to do it somewhere private.” Vanille led Serah to her chambers and hastily cast some privacy spells to make sure they wouldn’t be interrupted. “Serah, could you stop eyeing me like I’m your next meal? It makes it hard to hold a conversation.” She leaned forward and put one hand against Serah’s forehead. “How long has it been since you last fed?” Older vampires needed to feed less frequently than their younger kin, but they also had a tendency to be messier when they did feed.

“Oh, I’ve eaten recently.” Serah smiled and traced one finger along the vein in Vanille’s wrist. “But I wouldn’t mind another sip or two.”

Vanille yanked her arm away. “Serah, be serious. The Yun have wanted to repeal the Pact for years. Now that the clans have regained control over all their old territories, they might actually get their way. I’m not exactly friendly with many vampires – you and your sister aside – but I don’t want another war. The last one was bad enough, and the humans have gotten stronger. If we go to war now, they’ll wait until we’re weakened and then finish us both off.”

“Where do the other clans stand on this?” Serah’s gaze sharpened. This was worse than she feared. The Yun had always been belligerent, but they’d been in the minority for years. 

“The Dia are counselling caution, as always. But most of the other clans are inclined to agree with the Yun.” Vanille made a face. “We live for centuries, Serah. We don’t forget grudges.”

“Is there no way to stop it?”

“No, not unless the Yun get a new leader.”

“Then we need to get them a new leader.” Serah smirked. “And we can do that, right?”

Vanille shook her head. “It’s not going to be that easy, Serah. Fang left the Yun decades ago. It’s all I can do to get her to write now and then. I haven’t actually seen her in years.”

“Leave the convincing to my sister. Do you know where Fang is?”

“Not exactly.” Vanille pursed her lips. “But I should be able to give you some idea of where to look.”

“Good.” Serah tilted her head to one side. “You’re not needed anywhere until morning are you?”

Vanille shook her head. “Not really, no.”

“Wonderful.” Serah pressed a kiss to Vanille’s lips and then shifted to nip at Vanille’s throat. She could practically taste the redhead’s blood already. “Because I’m so hungry.” 

X X X

Lightning glanced up as her sister walked into her study. That was quick, but Serah had always been gifted when it came to some of the more esoteric vampire arts. The younger vampire’s clothing was rumpled, and there was a gleam in her eyes that could only have come from feeding.

“You smell of her.” Lightning frowned. “I trust you weren’t caught.”

“Of course, I wasn’t.” Serah flopped onto the couch set near the fireplace. “But it’s worse than we thought. The Yun are agitating for war, and Vanille thinks the other clans will go along with them.”

Lightning’s jaw tightened. Their lands were amongst the closest to the werewolf clans. If war came, much of the fighting would take place in her realm. “Does she have a solution?”

“Fang.”

“I see.” Lightning had to force the words out, and the scar on her chest throbbed. She could have gotten rid of the scar, but she wanted a reminder of what had happened – not that she could easily forget what it felt like to have one of Fang’s claws buried in her chest. “Fang could challenge for the leadership of the clan, and she’s far less likely to want all out war.”

“Yes.” Serah’s gaze lingered on Lightning. Even amongst their own kind, Lightning was very good at hiding her emotions if she wanted to. But Serah had always been able to read her. “You should go look for her. She might come back if you were the one who asked her.”

Lightning shook her head. “Or we might just kill each other. Does Vanille even know where she is?”

“Not exactly.” Serah handed Lightning a map. “But she’s marked out a general location.”

“Fine.” Lightning took the map. “Give me a few days to settle everything here, and then I’ll look into it.”

X X X

The cottage was almost an hour’s walk away from the nearest village. It was also the very last place that Lightning had checked in the area that Vanille had indicated. Trust Fang to be troublesome about everything. Still, the cottage was a small thing, and a rough wooden fence separated it from the dirt road in front of it and the thick, dark woods behind it. 

It was a few hours after dusk, and the woods had fallen still and silent. Lightning stopped in front of the cottage and eyed it with something not unlike distaste. How quaint. She opened the gate and walked briskly toward the front door. The quicker she got this done, the better.

“You can stop right there.” The voice came from the shadows, a low, predatory growl. Green eyes gleamed in the dark, and something inhuman stirred beneath tanned flesh. It was a testament to the owner of the voice’s skill that Lightning hadn’t heard them coming.

Lightning pushed back the hood of her cloak. Like most vampires her age, she had learned how to conceal her scent. It wouldn’t do for Fang to attack before they had a chance to talk. Her lips curled in a mixture of amusement and contempt as her inhuman eyes took in every detail of the cottage and its owner.

“How little you’ve changed, Fang. You’re still living in a hovel.” The pink-haired woman chuckled. “You still worry about the humans, even after all these centuries. You’ve gotten soft. You’ve forgotten that we were meant to rule them, not hide ourselves from them.”

Fang snarled. “Don’t test me, Lightning.” She stalked out of the shadows, dark hair rustling in the wind. Her scent filled Lightning’s senses: earth, trees, and something uniquely Fang. “Why are you here? How did you find me?”

“I’m here to check on an old friend.” Lightning’s hand shot out and caught Fang’s wrist. “And you’ve never been able to hide from me.”

“An old friend?” Fang pried Lightning’s hand off her wrist. It wasn’t easy. “That’s an odd way to put it. A friend wouldn’t have stabbed me through the chest with a silver-coated sword.”

“Perhaps.” Lightning bared her teeth. Her canines had elongated. “But a friend wouldn’t have torn my throat out and clawed my chest open, now would they?” She stepped forward, lips stopping just shy of Fang’s. “But we were never just friends, were we? No, even during the last war, we were more than that.”

Fang shoved Lightning back. The other’s woman’s feet dug into the soil. They’d been so young during the last war, so young and foolish. “Answer my questions, Lightning.”

“We have a problem, Fang. Our people have never been especially friendly with one another, but the Pact has prevented war for centuries. That is about to change. Your clans have regained their old territories, and the Yun are calling for war. Vanille says that the Dia are advising caution, but the other clans are not likely to listen.”

“So, Vanille told you where I was.” Fang snorted. “What do you want?”

“I want you to go back to the Yun. We cannot afford to have another war. You know as well as I do that the humans will strike once our people have exhausted each other, and there are other things, worse things, waiting in the dark for us to grow weak. The Yun are the strongest of the clans. If they can be persuaded to see reason, then the other clans will back down.”

Fang laughed. “That’s not going to happen. The Yun will never back down. They’ve been waiting centuries to get their revenge for the last war.”

“Under their current leader that is true, but perhaps a more reasonable leader could be found.” Lightning smiled thinly. “And I happen to know someone who has both the strength and the bloodline to challenge for that position.”

“Me.” A low rumble came from Fang’s chest. “You came all this way to ask for my help after what you did to me?”

“Yes.” Lightning paused, lips curving up at the edges. “Does that bother you?” 

Fang’s reply did not come in words. Instead, it came in the form of a roar that shook the whole forest. Her eyes blazed as she let go of the tenuous control she had over the beast within. She transformed in a series of savage, shuddering movements. Lightning bared her teeth. The power rolling off Fang now was dizzying, an intoxicating mix of ancient magic.

In place of a woman was a dark-furred lupine monster almost eight feet tall. Thick cords of muscle flexed, and wickedly sharp claws dug into the soft earth. A shiver of anticipation ran through Lightning. She’d seen Fang fight before. The werewolf was one of the few of her kind with the strength to match Lightning in combat. Fang howled and charged, and all through the forest, birds took flight.

“I see.” Lightning dissolved into a hail of bloody shadows. “It seems that I’m going to have to beat some sense into that thick skull of yours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I neither own Final Fantasy XIII, nor am I making any money off of this.
> 
> Some of you may have noticed that updates have been relatively sparse over the past few weeks. The reason is that I’m going through one of my periodic bouts of insomnia. Now, I can function well enough to write at about four hours of sleep a night, but once it gets down to less than three, the wheels start to come off. Lately, I’ve been going on two or three hours of sleep a night although it’s gotten better over the past few days.
> 
> Anyway, I’ve been asked by a few people (actually a lot of people) to put together something involving vampires and werewolves – so here it is! This story has kind of been on the back burner since Sanguine Lullaby, but I finally got around to it yesterday thanks to a better sleeping cycle and some spare time.
> 
> In this story, I’ve decided to change things up a little. Fang and Lightning have a prior relationship, but it ended somewhat messily. Their two races are likewise in a state of conflict although there is some cooperation between certain members of each side. Lightning is a little colder, I guess you could say, in this story than in some of my others, but she’s been around for centuries. Fang’s withdrawal is a symptom of the same problem. Centuries of life can wear away at the soul.
> 
> If you’re wondering where the others are, I’ve got a few ideas about what to do with them, but we’ll have to see how it goes. If you are waiting for updates on my other stories, please be patient with me. My updating schedule is demented at the best of times, and I’m only just getting back to a reasonable sleeping schedule.
> 
> I also write original fiction, mostly fantasy. You can find links to it in my profile. If you want to give my original fiction a try, then mark this Friday (4th July, Pacific Standard Time) down on your calendar because this Friday, you can pick up The Last Huntress for free from Amazon! There is a link to it in my profile, but I’ll post a bigger link to it on the day. You can find the blurb in my profile.
> 
> As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	2. Crimson Moon, Second Chapter

**Crimson Moon, Second Chapter**

“My, my, my. You seem quite upset with me.” If the large gash that ran across one side of Lightning’s chest bothered her, she didn’t show it. Instead, she seemed more put out by the damage that had been done to her clothes. “You do realise that I’m going to need another shirt now.”

“Shut up.” Fang grimaced as the last vestiges of her transformation faded away. Then she turned on her heel and stomped back toward her cottage. 

Ripping Lightning’s chest open hadn’t been nearly as satisfying as she’d hoped. The vampire was much older than the last time they’d fought and far more powerful. Tearing her chest apart wasn’t going to do much more than annoy her. Fang shivered. But even now, after all these years, there was still something irresistible about Lightning. 

In her more lupine form, Fang’s keen senses were ramped up even further. Lightning’s scent, the taste of her blood, the feel of her skin – all of it called out to the part of Fang that was most primal, the part that snarled at shadows and revelled in the light of the moon. That part still wasn’t sure whether it wanted to rip Lightning limb from limb or throw her to the ground and claim her.

“Is that an invitation?” Lightning shrugged off her cloak – it would take forever to get all the blood out of it – and hung it on the fence nearby. 

The wound on Lightning’s chest was already healing, and her torn throat had healed some time ago. Her lips curled. If Fang had truly wanted to kill her, she would have done a lot more than simply use her teeth and claws. Werewolves, especially ones with Fang’s lineage and age, had magic of their own – magic that had very… deleterious effects on things like vampires that straddled the boundaries of life and death. 

“You’re going to come in anyway, aren’t you?” Fang growled, a low rumble that brought a smile to Lightning’s face. She wasn’t some little fledgling to be scared off by a threatening noise or two. “It’s a pity that you don’t actually have to invite vampires in. They can come and go as they please.”

“I’m positively weeping. But, yes, I was hoping that you would be more reasonable now that you’ve handled some of that pent up aggression that you werewolves always have so much of.” 

Fang stopped, turned, and bared her teeth. It was a rather impressive display, and Lightning had always thought that Fang was her most attractive when she was like this – so close to losing control. “You have a lot of nerve saying that after what you did.”

“Really?” Lightning drawled. She moved with languid grace, gliding over to Fang and pulling back the ruins of her shirt to reveal the scar on the other side of her chest. Eyes gleaming, she grabbed Fang’s wrist and lifted the other woman’s hand to cover the old injury. “Because if I remember correctly, you’re the one who tried to kill me first.”

Fang flinched. Lightning bit back a chuckle. Even after all these years, the werewolf still had trouble accepting the… messy way their relationship had ended. “You’re oversimplifying things, and you know it. It was… complicated.”

“Yes, well, it’s very simple now.” Lightning brushed past Fang and stepped into the cottage. Her eyes had no trouble seeing in the dark. What a quaint, little place it was. There was nothing there except for a bed, a table, some chair, and a few bits and pieces. “You do enjoy living simply, don’t you?”

“Yes. Unlike some people I don’t need a castle.” Fang walked past Lightning, shoving her none-too-gently out of the way. “That’s for your kind.”

“We vampires do enjoy the finer things in life.” Lightning took a chair at the table.

Fang loomed over her, and Lightning reached out to wipe some of the blood off the other woman’s chest. The werewolf’s transformation had a somewhat unfortunate effect on her clothes, and Fang was now as naked as the day she was born, not that Lightning particularly minded. Fang was very nice to look at it.

Besides, Lightning was curious to see how much damage she’d done to Fang. She’d landed a few blows of her own, and although all of those wounds had already healed, the blood still remained. She ran one finger along Fang’s side – one of her shadows had cut deeply along the werewolf’s flank – and then raised her finger to her lips.

The taste of Fang’s blood was even better than it had been. The rich, fine flavour was now accented with centuries’ worth of additional power and a strange, brooding darkness that hadn’t been there before. How interesting. What had Fang been up to?

“You still taste exquisite.” Lightning tilted her head to one side, watching the movement of toned muscle as Fang snatched some clothes off the table and put them on. “And you look even better.”

“Keep your eyes and hands to yourself.” Fang took a seat on the opposite side of the table. Her scent filled the air, heavy with aggression. “You’re not going to leave, are you?”

“No.” Lightning was tempted to put her feet up, but even she could only push Fang so far. “I meant what I said. You need to go home and take control of your clan. I will not have another war erupt on my doorstep, and the Pact will not hold if the Yun go to war. You know that.”

“Why did you do it, Lightning?” Fang’s voice was quiet but hard. “Why did you almost let me kill you the last time?”

Any trace of levity fled from Lightning, and her blue eyes grew cold. “I wanted to know if you would.” Lightning leaned over the table, her fingers drumming out a slow, steady beat in time with the beating of Fang’s heart. “You always said you loved me, but I wanted to know if you loved your clan more than me.” She pulled back. “And you made the choice I always knew you would.” She sighed. “Now, can I have a shirt too, or are you going to stare at my chest all night?”

Fang snorted. “Don’t flatter yourself.” She threw a shirt at Lightning. “And you’re oversimplifying things again. Did you really think we could run off together? There was a war, Lightning. They would have hunted us down, and back then neither your nor I were anywhere near as strong as we are now. We wouldn’t have lasted a week.”

“True.” Lightning pulled on the shirt. “But that’s what happens when you’re young. You come up with the most foolish ideas.” She gazed across the table, eyes boring into Fang’s. “But I grew up, only you never did. You’re still hiding away from the world instead of taking what is yours by right.”

“I never fit in with the others,” Fang replied. “I never gave a damn about them either. The only one I care about is Vanille.” She folded her arms over her chest and gave another one of those low, rumbling growls. “You know what my clan prizes. The Yun talk about pack – about family – but when my parents died, what did they do? They left me to rot. All that talk of pack and family was just that – talk. No, what they really care about is strength and power, and I wasn’t strong enough or powerful enough to care about. The Dia might be a bunch of aggravating, overly curious fools, but they understand what pack is. They understand what family means.”

“You’re strong enough now, though.” Lightning stared at Fang. 

She wondered if the Yun even realised what they’d done. By mocking Fang for her weakness and ostracising her, they’d forced her to develop the power and strength she now had. Being this close to Fang was like being around another ancient vampire. The werewolf radiated enough power to cow most other beings into submission with her presence alone. Even now, powerful currents of magic rustled through the werewolf’s body. Even without transforming, Fang would be able to match her physical strength. Once she transformed, Lightning wasn’t sure if there was any vampire strong enough to match Fang’s in physical combat. 

“Why not make them suffer then?” Lightning asked. “If you’re in charge, you can make them pay.”

“I don’t want that.” Fang shook her head. “I tried living with them again for a while after the war, when I could show them I was stronger. They never changed. They never stopped wanting another war.” She gazed down at her hands. She’d done some awful things back then to try to win acceptance. “But only a madman wants to go back to the days when we sent children into battle. If I took control, I’d never keep it, not for long.”

Lightning held her tongue. Fang had a point. But there had to be others who felt as Fang did. Even amongst the Yun, it could not be possible for all of them to want a return to the days of war and bloodshed. Her jaw clenched. Werewolves and vampires had died in droves during the war, ripping and tearing each other apart. Only a handful of the ancients from that era had survived to take leadership afterward.

Both their races had come close to extinction before taking centuries to rebuild their numbers. Lightning had been young then, a foolish vampire warrior with nothing more than a couple of centuries under her belt. She was one of the oldest now, a ruler amongst her people. She pushed her fledglings hard, but she had not desire for them to see war like she had.

“You will never know if you don’t try. Besides, I never thought you were a coward.”

“It’s not cowardice.” Fang banged one fist on the table. “Only a fool tries to change what cannot be changed.”

“I once knew someone who wanted to change the world,” Lightning replied.

“You killed her when you put a sword through her chest.”

Lightning laughed and tapped Fang’s chest. “Oh no, she’s quite alive. And I was only repaying the favour.” 

She glanced out the window. Dawn was only a few hours away, and she’d said more than enough. If she pushed any harder, Fang would simply dig her heels in and refuse. Fang had to believe that the final choice was up to her. She also needed to find a place to rest during the day. A vampire her age could walk in the sun, at least for a while, but the effects were extremely unpleasant. It had taken her days to fully heal all of the burns the last time she’d spent more than a few moments in the light.

“I will leave you to your thoughts.” Lightning stood and walked to the door. “Think about what we went through, Fang. Do you want anyone else to end up the way we did?” Then she was gone, vanishing into the darkness.

X X X

Fang tried to sleep after Lightning left, but she couldn’t. Part of it was excitement. Even now, she had to fight to keep from shaking. There was nothing in the world like facing an opponent of Lightning’s calibre. She didn’t have to hold back against the vampire. She could bite and rip and tear without worrying about killing her. That alone was intoxicating. It made it almost impossible to keep the monster inside her under control.

But more than that, she couldn’t stop thinking about what Lightning had said. Lightning was capable of great cruelty and subterfuge – Fang knew that from personal experience – but she wouldn’t lie about something like this. Another war would put Serah at risk, and Serah was one of the very, very few things in the world that Lightning genuinely cared about. The younger vampire had come close to death during the last war, and Lightning had never forgotten that.

She wasn’t stupid either. Lightning would never have been able to find her without help. Fang was a superb tracker in both her human form and her werewolf form. Nobody could find her unless she wanted to be found – not even Lightning with her inhumanly keen senses and vampiric powers. There was only one person who knew roughly where Fang was: Vanille.

And although her adopted sister was… excitable at time, Fang trusted her judgement. The Dia as a whole were also quite peaceful. If they were truly worried about another war…

“Damn it.” Fang sat up in bed. There was a war coming, and the Yun were going to be at the forefront of it. And Lightning was right – Fang could try to put a stop to it.

She got up and paced, fighting the urge to pick up some furniture and break it. She hated this! Already, she could feel the walls closing in on her as the weight of more unwanted responsibility fell upon her shoulders. There had to be someone else who could do this. Why did it have to be her? She’d given more than enough during the damn war and during all the skirmishing and fighting that had gone on after it as the clans turned on each other and the Yun turned on themselves.

She snarled, and the magic inside her built, whipped into frenzy by her agitation. She had to force the transformation back. Turning into her werewolf form and running wouldn’t solve a damn thing. It hadn’t worked before, and it wouldn’t work now. But... she looked around the cottage. It wasn’t much, but she was happy here. She didn’t have to care about what happened to anyone else. She could hunt and live without anyone telling her what to do or who to be. 

Hadn’t her kind lived like that once? She knew the legends. Long ago, they hadn’t had lands of their own. They hadn’t lived in great clans either. Instead, they’d lived in smaller packs – families – that wandered the world, hunting and living as they pleased.

But things had changed. They always did.

The humans had grown stronger and more organised. They’d learned how to hunt her kind. The vampires had been there too – organised, powerful, already rulers. Werewolves had been forced into larger and large groups just to survive, and then they’d claimed lands as their own. She’d always believed that the Yun’s fury, their desire to fight, came from that loss of freedom – the beast inside raging against any form of confinement.

She shuddered. The Yun were one of the great clans, but she’d seen them turn upon other werewolves without a moment’s hesitation if they thought it was necessary. She could still remember the wariness of Vanille’s clansmen the first few times she’d visited before they’d learned she was different. They’d been watching, waiting for her to strike.

But she couldn’t let another war happen. If it did, the bloodshed would never end. And Lightning was right. The humans would pick them off once they were weakened. True, both vampires and werewolves had human followers, but the human nations would strike if they saw an opportunity. And there would be one because the war, if it came, would be catastrophic.

The war would start with fledgling and young werewolves, but it would escalate. Vampires like Lightning could slaughter young werewolves by the dozen. That would force older and more powerful werewolves into the fray, and it wouldn’t be long before the casualties got completely out of control.

There was also still a part of Fang that still believed in that silly dreamed she and Lightning had shared so long ago, a dream that had died on that night when everything had gone wrong. There could be peace, or at least some semblance of it, but someone had to fight for it. Fang took a deep breath. Lightning had read her right, just as she always had before – except for the one time it mattered most. Fang couldn’t afford to let this chance slip away. She just had to be strong enough. If she were, then the Yun would follow.

She spent her last day at the cottage gathering all the things she needed and piling everything else into the cottage. When dusk came, she set the cottage alight.

It was better not to leave anything behind. Now, she had no choice but to go forward.

Then she waited in the gathering dark for Lightning to come.

X X X

“That is a rather dramatic way of making your decision.”

Fang didn’t bother to turn as Lightning appeared beside her. The smell of smoke filled the air. She watched the cottage burn and felt a pang of sorrow in her heart. For years this had been her home.

“Be glad that I’m helping at all.” Fang turned and walked toward the road. “Go home, Lightning. You can’t follow me. Where I’m going, your kind isn’t welcome.”

“Be safe then.” Lightning’s voice was unexpectedly gentle. “And if you really have to… if nothing works… then leave them. You owe them nothing.”

Fang nodded. “If that happens, if the Yun turn on me…” 

“I will send Serah to get Vanille. We will keep her safe.”

“Thank you.” And then Fang was gone, walking along the road toward the lands of the Yun.

Lightning watched Fang go until even her supernaturally keen eyes could no longer see her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off of this.
> 
> Hurray, I finally got this chapter out! To be honest, I’ve been sitting on the draft of this for more than a week now. But all sorts of things happened, such as my laptop needing its battery replaced, my original fiction needing some attention, and a few other Final Fantasy XIII stories fighting for my attention (in my head, each story is represented by a little cartoon character wielding a pickaxe).
> 
> Anyway, I’ve decided that for this story, I’m going to make a conscious effort to keep the chapter length down to something manageable. That should – in theory – allow for more frequent updates since I won’t have to be managing colossal amounts of proofreading and scene building. 
> 
> So, in this chapter, we have some more Lightning and Fang goodness. I’ve never really delved too far into the whole werewolf thing, so hopefully that side of Fang came across okay. As you can see, however, there’s a lot of history between them, quite a lot of it unpleasant. But Fang has always been a pretty decent person, so she can’t just ignore the possibility of another war starting. Unfortunately, seizing control of the Yun won’t be all that simple – as you’ll see in the next few chapters.
> 
> Finally, I also write original fiction, mostly fantasy. I’ve recently released my newest original story on Amazon. It’s called Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf. If you have enjoyed my more light-hearted and humorous stories, you will absolutely love this one. Trust me. It’s a fantasy with plenty of humour, warmth, action, and a healthy dose of craziness (the kind you’ve come to expect from me). You can find links to it (and the rest of my original fiction) in my profile. If you’re after something a bit more serious, try The Last Huntress. It has plenty of atmosphere and action.
> 
> As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


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